Everything Changes
by MrsInaraReynolds
Summary: This is pretty much the episode of Firefly I would have written to directly follow the serenity movie. It's not really on specific character. thought the story as a whole will probably be mostly InaraMal with quiet a bit of Zoe. Warning contains Serenity


1He was bloody and beaten. He'd just lost two of the people he considered his dearest friends in the whole world. Inara stared at him. Her mind was reeling. Shepard and Wash were dead. Zoe was in shambles. But, it was Mal she was worried about. She didn't worry for his life. She worried for his heart. He'd had it broken so many times before, first by the war and now by the death of two of his own. She walked into his room with a wet wash clothe. He tried his best to smile at her, but could barely muster it.

"Simon asked me if I could come dress these wounds." Inara explained

"Now, I don't think it would be right, not all of them are in places it's decent to see." Mal explained

"Please Mal, I've seen the male form many times." Inara said. She began to take off the shirt he wore. She'd expected blood, but not nearly this much. Mal was barely alive. Her heart stopped in her chest. What if she'd lost him? Would she be destroyed? Of course she knew the answer to these questions. She was a companion, but she would have given up everything she loved about being a companion just to hear Mal tell her that he loved her.

"I told you it was bad Inara. You didn't clean them." Mal explained.

"It's a miracle that you're still alive."

"I can't say the same for everyone."

"She's tough Mal, she trying to hold it together, even though it's killing her."

"I've known Zoe longer then anyone else on this boat, I think I know how she's feeling." Mal said "Zoe's a fighter she'll make it threw this."

"You don't know everything Mal." Inara explained

"What do you mean?"

"When Simon was doing the physical after her spinal re-base, he discovered something." Inara explained. "Zoe doesn't want you to know about, but I think you should."

"I think that I should find out when Zoe wants to tell me." He said then grimaced slightly as Inara started to take care of his wounds.

"She's pregnant Mal, with Wash's baby." Inara blurted out. "She'll kill me if she finds out I told you."

"I can't have a baby on this boat." Mal nearly screamed.

"Then you can't have Zoe either." Inara said Mal stared at her for a moment. Then he continued to let her fix his bandages. Neither of them said anything for the rest of the time Inara was working. She nearly slipped out completely silent.

"Inara." He finally said. She turned back to look at him.

"Yes."

"It's great to have you back on board." Inara smiled at him now.

"It's great to be home."

Simon was sitting in the infirmary looking at Zoe's ultrasound when Kaylee walked in. She smiled at him. He walked over and put an arm around her then kissed her gently. He loved her. He'd loved her since the first moment he laid eyes on her. It was one of the few things that had made his early months on the ship bearable. Now he knew that Kaylee loved him too. For this first time this ship felt like his home.

"How's River doing in the cockpit?"

"Captain says she's got a natural talent for flying, I think it's definitely true." Kaylee stopped. "Is that Zoe's baby?"

"It is."

"Is everything ok, I mean after how hard she fought the Reavers?"

"Everything appears to be fine." Simon reassured her. "I'm a little worried about her stress though, she just lost her husband."

"She's a fighter, this baby is a piece of Wash and she's going to fight for it."

"I hope you're right." Simon said he grabbed her now and kissed her harder then before. "When we have a baby, I hope we're both around to see it."

"Well Doctor, talking about babies, maybe I don't want to have children with you." Kaylee teased Simon smiled

"Seriously Kaylee, this isn't a time to joke around." Simon managed "I want to have a baby with you someday."

"I want to have a baby with you someday too." Kaylee smiled.

"I've known it since the very first time I saw you."

"I think I knew before we even met, if that's possible."

"I love you, Kaylee."

"I love you too." She said in a voice that was reassuring. Kaylee was exactly what Simon had always wanted. Now, she was his.

River sat at the front of the ship, watching space fly by her. Everything was in auto mode and she really had nothing to do. She'd just learned that alliance government was crumbling. She and Simon were no longer fugitives of the law. She was free. She just wished they could give her back her sanity. Sometimes, like now, she felt like the River she used to be. The River that existed before they destroyed her brain. She wondered if she was getting better. Mal thought she was sane enough to fly his ship. She loved to fly. She'd always been mystified by the ships workings and now she was it's pilot. She knew she wasn't what Wash was, and never would be. However she was determined to do whatever it took. As she sat there staring at the dials, she saw Zoe walk in. Her heart nearly stopped.

"You were missing him." River said Zoe smiled "So you came to his place, it still even smells like him."

"Smells fade with time."

"Not his, he was special, but don't cry Zoe, you're not alone, we all loved him."

"Our bed's really lonely without him in it, I still keep reaching out expecting to find him there." Zoe admitted. She looked tired and frazzled.

"I see how hurt you are, but I know you'll smile again."

"I don't remember what it feels like to smile." Zoe admitted.

"You will when your son is born." River said

"Did your brother tell you?"

"No I just knew it. I'm sorry Zoe."

"Simon couldn't tell if it was a boy how can you."

"Because I can your son, Zoe." River smiled "You're going to name him Wash."

"I always hated that name." Zoe smiled "But I guess I am."

"You will."

"You're a little scary sometimes, River, you know it."

"I know, but that's just part of my character."

"This place feels so empty." Zoe said "Like he was never here."

"It's not the same without Wash, I think we all feel it." River explained. "Jayne even cried a little earlier when he came to check on me. I had to try hard not to laugh."

"I would have laughed, might have done me some good."

"I told you things will get better."

"You know the first time I met him, I didn't even like him." Zoe smiled but her eyes were off in the distance, as if she were in another place. "Who knew less then a year later I'd marry him."

"I would have." River teased.

"Thanks River." Zoe said. "You've been a real comfort."

Zoe headed back for her cabin, he heart hurt much more then she was letting on. She hadn't just lost her husband. She lost her best friend and her world. Now the only thing she had left was the tiny child that was growing inside her, and the people on the ship. She decided it was time to tell Mal. Malcolm Reynolds was not the type of man to take this news well he was the kind of man who hardly knew what a baby was or what it meant. She knew he might try to throw her off the boat. However the only connection she left in the world to the man she loved was the baby and she would give up everything to protect him.

"Captain, are you up for a talk." Zoe managed knocking on the door.

"Yeah, come on in Zoe." Mal said Zoe sat down in front of him. She looked like she hadn't slept in days.

"There's something I need to tell you, and you probably aren't going to like it." Zoe managed.

"You don't have to say another word, I already know." Mal started.

"Inara told you didn't she?"

"I'm not going to say who told me." Mal said "But I don't care."

"What?"

"I've known you longer then just about anyone else in the whole 'verse." Malcolm smiled "And if you think that I'm going to kick you off this boat over something as tiny as a baby you're mistaken."

"I was afraid."

"I do have some ground rules however." Mal smiled. "You aren't to go with me on any job until this baby is born."

"All right, what else?"

"I don't want it interfering in the way this ship is run." Mal said Zoe laughed. "I will also never babysit this child."

"I wouldn't have asked, I think I'd let Jayne watch my baby first."

"And absolutely under no circumstance will this child ever call me Uncle Mal." He said last and Zoe of course burst into laughter. She kept laughing for a little while if felt good.

"I think I can handle that." She managed finally.

"Then Serenity is still your home."

"Now if you'll excuse me, I need to go yell at our favorite companion."

"Go easy on her ok, she thought it was in your best interest if I knew." Mal smiled at just the mention of Inara Zoe looked at him.

"Life's too short Captain." Zoe said

"What's that supposed to mean?"

"If you love Inara, do me a favor, in the memory of Wash, would you please just tell her."

"She's a companion Zoe, even if I did love her it wouldn't make a bit of difference."

"It might make a bigger difference then you would think." Zoe said then headed out the door with a smile on her face for the first time in days.


End file.
